Carole Lévesque

116

Narrative Walking as a Research Method

42 Hours across a Terrain Vague

Abstract

The last two decades have seen a growing interest for in-between spaces within cities’ fabrics, or for what Ignasi de Sola-Morales pointed to in 1995 as terrains vague. But the terrain vague, often found amid inhabited areas, between neighbourhoods or neighbouring boroughs and towns, isn’t merely abandoned space nor is it only awaiting development, as the general understanding would have it: a terrain vague is an as constitutive part of the city as is built land and it is through its representation, as this article will argue, that it can actively participate within the understanding of past inhabitation or uses, within the imagination and narrative of a city’s development, and within our acceptance of what constitutes a proper urban landscape. Following a documentation project leading to a 42-hour walk across the island of Montreal, this article shows how a terrain vague takes many shapes and sizes but always tells a story of another city, one that has been forgotten or one that has not yet taken shape. It is a narrative space, more than an abandoned one.

OASE #98 about Narrating Urban Landscapes was presented on 1 February 2018 at the University of Greenwich, London. Lectures by Bruno Notteboom, Kris Scheerlink and Klaske Havik. Image: Klaske Havik, editor of OASE, during the presentation.

Especially for the 25th anniversary of the Kunsthal in Rotterdam OASE editor Véronique Patteeuw, talked to architect Rem Koolhaas about the realisation, current function and the future of the building. Also OASE #94 about OMA was discussed!

On 19 October 2017 OASE and the KU Leuven organised a workshop for students from KU Leuven and TU Delft. Later on OASE #98 was launched by the editors of this issue and the Scientific Board of OASE. Maarten Overdijk (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht) and Bas Smets (Bureau Bas Smets) gave lectures.

On 18 July 2017 member of the OASE editorial staff Veronique Patteeuw discussed her work as co-editor of OASE #97 at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in New York. Click here for more details.